Potential 650S Spider purchase - thoughts welcome

[Meeko]

Hi all, have been on the hunt for a 570S or 650S Spider for months and all the while the supply has really dropped off. I've dragged my heals so far as was hoping to buy one privately to negate some of the dealer margin and subsequent loss during resale. I'm keen to jump into one to enjoy the summer and I've an option on a 650S Spider for circa £90k:

August 2014 Reg
23k miles
3 owner
Volcano Red
Sports Exhaust
Front Suspension Lifter
Carbon Ceramic Brakes
Meridian Sound System
Full alcantara interior - seats, dash etc
Harissa red stitching
MSO metal oil cap
Carbon surround on climate control screens
Superlight wheels
Carbon spoiler
Carbon side air turning vanes
MSO carbon rear diffuser
Carbon door mirrors
Carbon door cards
Carbon bulkhead (behind seats, inside of buttresses)
Carbon front splitter
P1 extended gear shift paddles in Carbon
Carbon steering wheel
PPF to front, sides, spoiler, bonnet, mirrors
Full McLaren services history
MSO black knobs

It's just been serviced but out of Mc Extended Warranty, and had recent brakes and accumulators. I'll probably sell in 12 months or so, with around 30k miles. With that mileage and 4 owners, would it make it tough to resale? I presume to some extent this be offset due to the high spec. I know these are fairly reliable, and with the accumlators replaced, as long as the gearbox isn't leaking (will get inspected prior to purchase), I'm hoping there wouldn't be any surprise running costs. I'd consider a Thorney warranty to de-risk it a little.

Thoughts welcome!

[davek_964]

Sounds a high spec car, and looks like a decent price.

However - why has it needed brakes within 23k miles? I assume it's had a few track days?

[LiveOnce]

I’m a month or so into my 650 Spider ownership experience; it is quite simply epic and I would wholeheartedly recommend one to you. Ludicrously fast, incredible handling, pliable when needed and in the metal, to my eye, they look fantastic. I considered 570 and did a day at Milbrook a few years ago in one, 650 still has the edge for me despite being the older car.

I purchased privately with the balance of McWarranty and suspect I will go the Thorney route when that expires. Though that said I’m close to McGuildford and they have been a real pleasure to deal with when I had a light issue that needed sorting.

I’d go in eyes wide open that there will likely be the odd issue that needs sorting (that just comes with owning a hand built supercar in my book) but it will reward you many many times over in terms of driver engagement and enjoyment.

Spec of the car you have your eye on sounds great. If you can, I’d get Thorney to inspect it pre-sale so you have a better idea of mechanical condition and can negotiate on price if anything needs resolving / equally you can walk away if it’s a complete lemon.

Good luck!

[HIS LM]

Very nice specification and colour, good luck if you decide to go for it, if not would you email via PH as I am on the lookout for a nice 650s.
Thanks

[Meeko]

Thanks all for you advice, am discussing with the owner and will keep you posted!

@HIS LM will let you know if I don’t purchase

[Meeko]

Quite a few issues with this one!

Service book not stamped (but McLaren have confirmed it's had every service apart from 2017)

Needs the following sorted (already booked in at Thorney):
Front accumulators
Brake pads all round
Windscreen washer pump broken
PPF tired and needs refresh

In addition headlights are loose (aparently common?) and needs 2 wheel refurbs

It's a god great/colour, but isn't going to be an easy purchase - would not having the service book stamped put anyone off? I'd need a warranty, but given the above items are being repaired at Thorney, makes sense to have a PPI and warranty applied then. The issue is Thorney is 3 hours from me and any issues will be a pain to get resolved. Not easy this one, or wait for another car to come up. Difficult when the Summer's here and they are few and far between.

[drcarrera]

With regards to the service book, as long as McLaren have electronic service records showing show a FSH I wouldn't worry too much about physical stamps. It would be worth getting clarification as to the missed 2017 one though. But make sure the chassis number matches in all records and documentation.

Edited by drcarrera on Thursday 27th May 11:28

[davek_964]

Meeko said:

Quite a few issues with this one!

Service book not stamped (but McLaren have confirmed it's had every service apart from 2017)

Needs the following sorted (already booked in at Thorney):
Front accumulators
Brake pads all round
Windscreen washer pump broken
PPF tired and needs refresh

In addition headlights are loose (aparently common?) and needs 2 wheel refurbs

It's a god great/colour, but isn't going to be an easy purchase - would not having the service book stamped put anyone off? I'd need a warranty, but given the above items are being repaired at Thorney, makes sense to have a PPI and warranty applied then. The issue is Thorney is 3 hours from me and any issues will be a pain to get resolved. Not easy this one, or wait for another car to come up. Difficult when the Summer's here and they are few and far between.

Service book stamp wouldn't bother me if McLaren have confirmed it was serviced - although if 2017 was "missed" I think that will prevent you ever getting the official extended warranty (or, more likely - you'd get it, but if your engine went pop they wouldn't pay).

Accumulators are common and no big deal - mine were done 6 months ago.

I'm going to assume this is a track car. In your description you said it had recently had new brakes - now, it seems it needs brake pads all round, and the PPF is "tired" - does this mean heavily peppered at the front?

My 650 has done just over 17k miles now. I don't track it, but I do drive it hard, and I know I brake hard often - at the last health check a few thousand miles ago my brakes were all more than 70% good.

[Fezzamania]

Meeko said:

Quite a few issues with this one!

Service book not stamped (but McLaren have confirmed it's had every service apart from 2017)

Needs the following sorted (already booked in at Thorney):
Front accumulators
Brake pads all round
Windscreen washer pump broken
PPF tired and needs refresh

In addition headlights are loose (aparently common?) and needs 2 wheel refurbs

It's a god great/colour, but isn't going to be an easy purchase - would not having the service book stamped put anyone off? I'd need a warranty, but given the above items are being repaired at Thorney, makes sense to have a PPI and warranty applied then. The issue is Thorney is 3 hours from me and any issues will be a pain to get resolved. Not easy this one, or wait for another car to come up. Difficult when the Summer's here and they are few and far between.

If Mclaren have confirmed its had its services do you have or get copy invoices ? Would of thought its quite easy to get a dealer to retrospectively stamp the actual book so that wouldn't put me off.

Is the work booked in at Thorney being done as part of the deal ? If it is you know you are not facing that bill again with another lower mileage car.
PPF is circa £5k but could be arranged prior to collection. Wheel refurb is common and easy

Dont think any of above issues are deal breakers if the car is in good condition and volcano red is an awesome colour on a 650S
Its a 5+ year old used car at the end of the day but can be returned to nearly as good as new with some TLC

[davek_964]

Fezzamania said:

Wheel refurb is common and easy

Depends a little on the wheels. Diamond cut can only be refurbed up to a point - so if two wheels need doing and they're diamond cut, that might mean that two need refurbing, and all four need painting.

[davek_964]

Incidentally - I had a loose headlight at one point. Don't know how common it is - mine was immediately after a dealer had adjusted the headlights (at my request). When I took the car back, I was told that the bracket was "broken" and that's why it was loose - but they sorted it out as a favour to me.....

[Chrisatronic]

If the dealer's doing all that as part of the prep I'd be tempted to stick with it, at least you know it's a sorted car at that point.

Did they already have that lot booked or did you ask it to be inspected by Thorney?

[Meeko]

Thanks all for your thopughts evertone, most appreciated.. I've spoken to McLaren and it's definitely not had a service in 2017 but they said they'd still warranty it as it's had 4 since then. The owner said it's never been tracked (in his ownership) so not sure if brake pads needing at 23k miles is indicative of track driving or not. The PPF has swirl marks from wear and tear apparently and just wants replacing to bring back to a perfect finish. The service book can be stamped retrospectively according to dealer also.

The work is already booked in and he said I could have before work is completed with £5k off and get it completed myself, or wait until he does and then he "might not want to sell it." It's also had a replacement wing and paint into the door for corosion despite the owner saying it's definietly not had any bodywork (and that was done in his ownership) which is worrying.

On the fence, and waiting to see what else comes along - nice white one up at the moment which could be an easier purchase. Decisions and with nice weather arriving I'm very keen to jump into one.

[davek_964]

Meeko said:

Thanks all for your thopughts evertone, most appreciated.. I've spoken to McLaren and it's definitely not had a service in 2017 but they said they'd still warranty it as it's had 4 since then. The owner said it's never been tracked (in his ownership) so not sure if brake pads needing at 23k miles is indicative of track driving or not. The PPF has swirl marks from wear and tear apparently and just wants replacing to bring back to a perfect finish. The service book can be stamped retrospectively according to dealer also.

The work is already booked in and he said I could have before work is completed with £5k off and get it completed myself, or wait until he does and then he "might not want to sell it." It's also had a replacement wing and paint into the door for corosion despite the owner saying it's definietly not had any bodywork (and that was done in his ownership) which is worrying.

On the fence, and waiting to see what else comes along - nice white one up at the moment which could be an easier purchase. Decisions and with nice weather arriving I'm very keen to jump into one.

The car has ceramic brakes - it simply should not need pads at 23k miles with just road use. In the initial description you said it had "just had brakes" - what was that? Pads again, or discs?
I'd put money on it having been on track quite a bit. That's not necessarily bad - but I do think it's very likely if it's eating brakes that quickly.

"Swirl marks" on the PPF sounds a bit odd. Modern (decent) PPF is self healing - swirl marks is the one thing it absolutely doesn't get. So don't really understand that.

Be very very careful if you want extended warranty. I don't care what McLaren say - they don't underwrite the extended warranty, it's a third party warranty. The terms of the warranty very clearly state that it is only valid IF the service schedule has been followed. You may or may not care - but if I was buying this car, and having an official extended warranty was important to me - I'd want the warranty company itself to confirm in writing that the missing 2017 service would not affect future claims, not just McLaren.
If the engine or gearbox died, and you were claiming for tens of thousands of pounds - I really doubt they wouldn't look at that missing service and say : That clearly breaks the terms of the warranty, pay for it yourself.

[Fast Eddie]

davek_964 said:

The car has ceramic brakes - it simply should not need pads at 23k miles with just road use. In the initial description you said it had "just had brakes" - what was that? Pads again, or discs?
I'd put money on it having been on track quite a bit. That's not necessarily bad - but I do think it's very likely if it's eating brakes that quickly.

"Swirl marks" on the PPF sounds a bit odd. Modern (decent) PPF is self healing - swirl marks is the one thing it absolutely doesn't get. So don't really understand that.

Be very very careful if you want extended warranty. I don't care what McLaren say - they don't underwrite the extended warranty, it's a third party warranty. The terms of the warranty very clearly state that it is only valid IF the service schedule has been followed. You may or may not care - but if I was buying this car, and having an official extended warranty was important to me - I'd want the warranty company itself to confirm in writing that the missing 2017 service would not affect future claims, not just McLaren.
If the engine or gearbox died, and you were claiming for tens of thousands of pounds - I really doubt they wouldn't look at that missing service and say : That clearly breaks the terms of the warranty, pay for it yourself.

If the engine or gearbox died, and you were claiming for tens of thousands of pounds - I really doubt they wouldn't look at that missing service and say : That clearly breaks the terms of the warranty, pay for it yourself.

An insurance company wouldn't really say that would they?

[Meeko]

In my initial post, I wrote I was told by the owner it had new brakes, but in a later conversation he explained it's booked into have pads all around with Thorney. To my knowledge, still original discs and pads are on the vehicle.

I'm also concerned about the missing service, and a couple were several months late, so that may give the warranty company wriggle room. I think there are too many question marks over this one. Definitely a seller's market at the moment. Maybe another will come up in the next few weeks.

[Abacus21]

If the car has low miles missing services by some months is normal as is MOTs. Some owners dont have the time to do this due to other obligations. I myself am one. I often work abroad.

[Meeko]

Just viewed the VR 650S and noticed a couple of issues with the paint work. I'd be really grateful for people's thoughts. The first shows a thin paint line under the lacquer on the front wing where it meets the bumper, and the 2nd shows some paint lifting on the rear where the wing meets the bumper. He said it's "McLaren quality control". Has anyone seen this before?

[davek_964]

McLaren could improve quality control in some areas, but I've never heard of issues like that with paint.

I suspect it's had paint, and not very well

[Meeko]

Thanks - I thought Volcano paint wasn’t available outside of McLaren circles, but could be wrong. The rest of the car was mint. Don’t really want to be in a position where it needs repainting if it peeled more.